


Don't start now

by xSallyFace



Category: Sally Face (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Anal Sex, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Based on a Dua Lipa Song, Clubbing, Everybody Lives, Everyone Is Alive, Everyone Needs A Hug, Fluff and Angst, Gay Bar, Guilt, Guitars, Hate to Love, Host Clubs, Hurt/Comfort, I Don't Even Know, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Cheating, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, Inspired by Music, Love, Love Confessions, Love/Hate, M/M, Minor Injuries, Minor Violence, Music, Sad Ending, Sal Fisher and Larry Johnson Are Not Related, Walk Into A Bar
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-08
Updated: 2020-02-05
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:40:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22162717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xSallyFace/pseuds/xSallyFace
Summary: A short novel, consisting of around 15 chapters that will follow the life of guitarist Sal Fisher, who works at a bar with his friend, Ashley Campbell, the lead dancer in the bar. Soon after their lives were normal, the new main singer gets chosen and it's none other than Mr. Larry Johnson. He and Sal hate each other's guts to the core. They despise each other. But over time, the hatred turns to comfort, love and most importantly - trust.
Relationships: Chug/Maple (Sally Face), Sal Fisher & Larry Johnson - Relationship, Sal Fisher/Larry Johnson, Todd Morrison/Neil
Comments: 6
Kudos: 21





	1. Don't start now

"Sal? You heard about this new bastard that's about to join the bar gang and ruin everything, as you call him? I know him! He was in my lambada dance classes back in the day." Ashley smiled, looking at Sal a bit before the night club opened.

"Yeah. Do we even know if they're a dude or a girl? No. Their name? We have clue, Ash. Why is our boss not telling us? Seems kinda fishy."  
"I- I just told you it's a guy who I know. Were you even listening to me? Jeez, you're really spacy these days." Ash responded, chuckling at the last part, her lipstick slightly staining her hand as she sneezed a second later.  
"Bless you." Sal quickly said, eyeing her now-stained hand.  
"Thanks! But he's really cool, trust me. He's a chill ass, laid back guy. But, um... He was kind of a Playboy back in the day. Not sure if he still is. Just... You gotta know that before meeting him." She quickly explained and took off to the dancer's practice room. 

Sal looked down at the guitar in his hands and then at the clock. 7:58. Their bar opens in 2 minutes. Where even was the new guy? 

And as if by the devil, 10 seconds later the door opened to reveal a long-haired boy, slightly tanned, taller than Sal, who was wearing a shirt with the acronym SF, the F having an arrow down outside the circle where the letters were. 

The lights inside the bar finally lit up to reveal the letters "Lilac Escape" written outside above the door. The people started lining up at the front of the bar.

"Yo, dude. I'm Larry Johnson. The new singer. You and Ash maybe heard that I'll be the new lead singer in the bar." The man, who's name was Larry Johnson, spoke softly, looking at Sal with an evident smile and he stepped foot in the place. The guards outside, Todd and Niel, who strangely enough were dating, were holding all the people from entering the bar. 

"Hi. Just so you know, I'm not into you, how you look, or what you're here for. Me and Ash were doing fine without a singer, but I guess Rob wanted a new singer or some other shit. I won't be talking to you most of the time. I was glad to be the guitarist without a lead singer. Now piss off and go to the stool in the center of the stage and prepare for the song, Mr Johnson." Sal said with a sly and devilish expression on his features that Larry couldn't see from the prosthetic. 

Although, everything Sal said was a lie. Fuck, he loved how Larry looked. His long hair that fell down his broad shoulders and gracefully continued to his back was beautiful, his sparkling brown eyes that had a curtain dullness when looked at from a far, his masculine figure, oh, he was fucking hot. Hotter than a French baguette. Sal was getting that if Larry took his shirt off right now, the bluenette would have an instant nosebleed. And honestly, Sal fell for him. He just didn't want to express it directly. 

"Okay, wow, rude, my guy. Don't be disrespectful to your new group member, hmm?" Larry snickered out with a smirk and walked to Sal, whispering in his ear.  
"I would have fucked you on the table right now if you didn't say what you did."  
Sal blushed as red as a tomato under his mask and quickly gripped Larry's crotch, making the taller moan slightly.  
"There's people watching outside, bastard. Now get ready for the song." Sal whisperer slyly and he was damn glad Larry was in front of him when he grabbed the taller's groin. That meant the sluts outside didn't see them. 

"Okay, Fisher." Larry grinned slyly once again and took off to the chair. He sat down in front of the microphone on the little stool and waited for Todd and Niel to let the people in. 

After a minute, it hit the time for the bar's opening and the music began as the people began entering and sitting themselves down on the chairs. 

The first song was surprisingly "Don't start now" by Dua Lipa. Larry took the microphone in his hand and began singing the lyrics as the people finally got seated.  
"Did a full 180°... crazy!" His voice was beauty to Sal's ears as he began playing the instrument in the background while Ashley and her team of dancers began dancing in the other part of the bar.  
"Did the heartbreak change me? Maybe..! But look at where I am now."  
Sal began tearing up, thinking of his mother at the last lyric. He remembered how she got shot with an AK47 back when he was 6. She would have been proud of him. Very proud. He finished university, ended the years with all A's and got a full-time job as a guitarist at a bar. 

"I'm all good already, so moved on it's scary. I'm not where you left me alone~" Sal quickly took a glance at Larry and noticed his tall frame was slightly quivering. The people were watching them with such pleasure and kindness. Sal swore he saw one fresh tear roll down Larry's cheek and then evaporate into thin air.  
"If you don't wanna see me, dancing with somebody, if you wanna believe me, nothin can stop me..!" Larry sang with so much emotion, Sal was about to honestly faint from everything. He really wanted to slap Larry hard and tell him his words were all lies, that he didn't hate him, that he actually fell for him when he saw him. 

"Don't show up, don't come now, don't start caring about me now. Walk away, you know how. Aren't you the guy who..." Larry continued to sing as Sal's emotions were changing and his head was spinning. He continued to play the guitar to the melody of the song, Ashley continuing the dance with her group. 

After minutes, the song ended and all the people clapped at Sal and Larry. That's when the taller quickly removed his hand from the microphone and looked at Sal with so much dullness, sadness and happiness in his eyes at the same time as three tears ran down his rose cheeks. 

Sal really did fall for someone like Larry Johnson.


	2. Just Dance | Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This time, the group gets invited to a different club. But, this one is slightly more... on a different theme.

"WHAT?!" Ashley screamed at the top of her lungs, not realizing that it was 5 in the morning, and that most people in the flat were sleeping.  
"Yeah. I can't believe it... We got invited to sing tonight at a strip club! What and why?!" Sal was beyond and utterly shocked.  
The group had received an invitation to perform at a strip club under the name of "Dancing in circles" and the name might sound amazing, but damn, the scenery inside the place would potentially be a nightmare.

"Does Larry know..? I mean, he would probably fuck half of that club if we weren't there and if he wasn't our new lead singer." Sal once again spoke, trying his best to say something rude about Larry, the words being slightly too difficult since his new-found feelings for the new lead singer.  
"Oh. My. God. I know you're into Larry, it's visible from miles. You don't have to try and pretend to hate him, haha. But, um... I don't think he does. I'll email him about it. Because, IT'S TONIGHT! Jeez, we have to get prepared for like 14 hours?! I need to shop for the new dancing outfits with my dancing team, you need something... Eh, more revealing. Larry is gonna be making the prostitutes and chicks drool like always anyway." Ashley tried to speak slow, although everything came out faster than she wanted it to. But Sal understood it all, since they had been friends for many years and she spoke fast every time something important was happening.  
"Good god. They'd vomit because of him. Also, why are you buying a new outfit?!" Sal questioned. "Your's is revealing as hell just as it is! You aren't gonna dance in like... Lingerie and make me wanna... Yeah, I won't finish my sentence. I bet your ass and breasts would be showing even more, Jesus. Do you really wanna look like a stripper on the dancefloor at this "club" or?" Ashley was laughing her ass off by the end of Sal's words and she pinched his arm lightly.

"No, bu-" Her phone rang and she quickly took it out of her pocket, seeing the contact name. "Larry" it read.  
Ash picked the phone up, but quickly handed it to Sal.  
"Hello? Ash?" Larry said over the line.  
"N-no. This is Sal, Sal Fisher. Ash made me talk to you. Now, listen. Since we have to be a group, even though I don't want to, I need to tell you this. We got invited to a strip club called "Dancing in circles". Oh fuck, I just realized what the name meant-" Sal went quiet for a moment as he heard Larry chuckle on the other end of the call.  
"Yeah, when girls do their shit and they're alone, yeah. Anything else, mi puta?" Larry was smirking devilishly, Sal could tell. He didn't speak Spanish, hell, he didn't know the numbers from one to ten in that language, hell for anything else. But he easily guessed it was something like "my bitch" or something along the lines of it. And he sure as hell wasn't a fan of the pet name.  
"Okay, okay, whatever you just said. We're invited to sing there at 10 tonight, and me and Ash will be going shopping for new clothes and equipment for the performance, you can come too. Were gonna be meeting at the mall, around 3 PM if you're okay with that. See you there." Sal quickly closed the call without waiting for a responding goodbye from the other male.

Fast forward, around 7 hours later after a bunch of food and dressing up and make up by Ashley, hair styling by Sal, they both decided it would be time to go for the shopping. The fact that Ashley needed to buy like 4 other outfits didn't bother her, because she knew what sized clothing everyone in her dance group wore. Well, they all knew each other's size.  
After a 30 minute walk, they arrived at the mall and instantly saw Larry's tall frame standing in front of the entrance, waiting for both of them.  
"Yo, guys. So, in which store are we going fi-" Sal cut him off by taking his hand in his, quietly blushing under his prosthetic as he dragged Larry to the shop. It wasn't much of a surprise that Ashley was buying the most revealing clothes for this, it was a strip club! So she had to look like a stripper herself, right?

They first stopped in a store that was for stripper clothing/dirty dancing clothing or something like that. Ash decided to pick out a pink and purple choker, along with her favorite brand of short fake nails in a pinkish shade. She also bought a very, VERY revealing top that showed her nipples and some side boob action. The bottom part of the clothing was an oddly short pair of jeans that basically showed her panties, and not to mention they were low-waist ones. Basically very revealing, then she proceeded to buy her co-dancers slightly matching outfits that weren't as revealing, because the other girls didn't like to be absolutely exposed.

Sal decided to only pick out some hair ties that had small blue spikes on them for his pigtails, along with a black crop top that exposed his abs. Larry just bought some other blue ripped jeans to add to his collection later. And everything surprisingly took less than 5 hours.  
So around 9 PM the trio had to be ready and the other 4 outfits for the co-dancers had to also be done and delivered. Larry took that job as he drove off to the girls' place to give them the outfits, all 4 of them thanking him in advance.  
Ashley put on her outfit and Sal got dressed up, putting his hair in pigtails with the spiked hair ties lastly. Larry put his Sanity's Fall beige T-shirt on along with the ripped blue jeans. The group took their equipment with them in Larry's car, as he was the one driving everyone off to the club. Good thing Ashley's co-dancers had a different car, otherwise the group would be late, driving everyone off and on to the place.

There were now just 30 minutes till they had to sing. What were the songs? All Lady GaGa, Sal's favorite artist. He was fairly excited, if he had to be honest, even though the amount of female bodies he would see naked on stripper poles soon would make him walk out immediately and blast off vomiting in the bathroom.


	3. Beautiful, dirty, rich | Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You had me hooked."

Everybody had finally gotten done with dressing up and preparing. The club was about to open and Sal saw the strippers come out of a room, which he supposed would be quite large and be filled with poles, which was seated at the corner of the whole place. They were all wearing black laced clothing that had iridescent fishnets on the short skirts that were hanging around their, well, asses only. They were that short. Their braas were quite see-through, and it made Sal sick to the stomach.

He could feel the disgusting bile rise up to his arteries and trachea, but it quickly stopped as he tried his best to avoid making any eye contact or just ANY contact with the sluts that were about to dance. Ashley, in the meantime, at least looked good in her revealing outfit to Sal. Well, he did have a crush on her back in high school, but well, things changed quite quickly when he met Larry. He went head over heels for that bastard.  
The other strange thing, was that the strip club was split into sections. And floors, 2 to be exact. Ashley and her dance team had to be on the second floor, as it was the one for more "talented" people to show off there. Like Ash and her group. And god damn he needed to stop thinking of Ashley and Larry, he needed to focus on playing the guitar or even be a back vocalist! Who knew what these people would want from him?!

"Hi! You must be Sal Fisher, and this man must be Larry Johnson, right? I'm Monica. Monica Blake, the manager of this club." Sal realized that Larry was behind him and he quickly turned back to look at the woman. She didn't actually look bad, not at all. She had a suit on, a tie and black jeans, accompanied by a black coat. Larry was smirking and Sal could easily understand it by the slightly unnerving atmosphere.  
"Yes. I'm Sal, nice to meet you, miss Blake. So, will I be singing together with Larry or doing a guitar cover, cause we didn't quite get it from the messages on our phones." Sal managed to ask without stuttering and he looked at the woman with a smile underneath his prosthetic.  
"Yes. In fact, you two will be both singing! You don't need your guitar currently, and I have put it in the secret drawer, so the orchestra we have won't take it and use it by accident. I hope you two learned the lyrics to the songs. "Beautiful, dirty, rich", "Lovegame", "Government hooker", right? I hope you two have a good time during this performance! Take your seats, they are right over there by the gigantic couch and the tables, along the 4 stripper poles." She replied with a genuine happiness in her features and went off to a different room.

Sal walked away from Larry, trying to avoid being in his "zone of trash", as he called it, trying to sound rude, but in reality, he wanted to be the only one in that zone, being next to the taller man 24/7. The feelings he had were definitely not mutual, as Larry probably just wanted him for the sex. Hell, was he even gay or just in general not straight? Ash had said he was something along the lines of a hooker, but without the money. Like a playboy basically.

He soon, to his dismay, felt a pain at his clothed entrance, something like, hm. A hand? Larry had put his hand against Sal's ass and was now once again, smirking devilishly against Sal's ear that was half protected by the material straps of the prosthetic.

"You ready, mi prostituta?"  
"Call me a prostitute once more and I'll ride your dick until you shut your mouth." Sal responded, unclasping the bottom strap of the mask, making it open a little so the crowd would be able to hear his voice better while he sang.

"𝘛𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘳é 𝘥𝘶𝘳𝘰 𝘦𝘯 𝘦𝘭 𝘣𝘢ñ𝘰 𝘮á𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘦, 𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘳." Larry whispered gently in his ear, his Spanish maybe being on point, maybe not, since he said everything quietly.  
Sal understood one word, and the other things made absolutely no sense to him.

He quickly sat on his stool near the poles and witnessed the women going right next to them, putting their wrists on the metal. Larry sat on his own spot, taking the microphone in his hand and looking at the club's doors. The guards finally opened them and people started flooding the inside of the place. There, to his surprise, were a handful of women that also entered, but he guessed they were the ones for the second floor. And he ended up being right, as he saw them entering the elevator and hitting the button for the higher floor.  
Sal also took in the object in his hand, balancing it out on the microphone stand, his stomach already scrunching from the feel of bile and vomit being caused by the outrageous sight in front of his eyes - all the fat, old, drunk men and their short, slim and ugly girls just sitting in their seats, money evident in their clutches, pockets and purses. It was grossly disgusting. It was just like, government hookers, or some other stuff like that.

The group with the instruments began to play, and what better song to be first, than "Government hooker" by GaGa. Sal's personal favorite, since the lyrics sparked up a strange feeling inside of him, making him all horny all of a sudden, wanting to be touched and to touch. It was quite an interesting feeling and experience, if he had to be honest.

"𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥  
𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘥" Larry sang, the passion in his voice evident. Sal was so glad that they had split up which lines they would be singing when they were shopping with Ashley. Sal had to sing the more sexy lyrics, and Larry sang the lustful ones. Or, something like that. "𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘭, 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘣𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘥" He continued as he glanced over at Sal, a smirk evident in his expression.

"𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨  
𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨" Sal continued, a devilish frown on his lips as he glanced over at the women on the poles, their bodies moving senselessly on the objects, their movements being fast and slow at the same time, as if adrenaline was pushing through their vanes from a second to another, and it made Sal insane. He wanted to vomit, he wanted to die, he wanted to, fuck - hang himself in those exact moments. Naked or visible female bodies made his stomach drop and his mind go blurry. He hated bare bodies, if not just females in general, well, minus his mother and Ashley, and Maple.

"𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘺, 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘥" Sal continued, but stopped instantly and let Larry continue. 

He was about to throw up. Everything made him sick - the money that egoistic rats were throwing at strippers, the bodies of the women dancing, their movements, their existence pained Sal to the core and he felt his stomach drop. 

So Sal sat up and instantly ran off to the nearest bathroom, which he was glad was basically 10 meters away from his stool. His legs ran him right to the door and he opened it fast enough for it to shut itself with a bang after him. Larry quickly heard the door getting shut and dropped the microphone in the middle of the sexual lyrics and ran off to find Sal. 

Monica instantly received a message on the earphone from one of the pianists and threw her door open, sliding down the stairs to the first floor.   
She saw Larry.   
"Mr. Johnson! Is Sal okay? If he isn't, you two get out of here! I had no idea that this atmosphere would make him this sick... I apologize. If anything serious happens, I will pay the hospital fee and-" She was stopped mid-way and saw a faint but noticeable smile on Larry's lips.  
"It's fine, miss Blake. I will get Ashley to message you later and talk about her coming again, she seemed excited about performing in your club. Now, I'll get Sal and take him out of here. I'll leave too, is that fine?" He asked sincerely, nudging at the door handle. 

"Yes, absolutely! I'll get out backup singers take the places of you two. Please tell miss Campbell to call me back after she's done here and inform me on mister Fisher's condition." She was quick to respond and smiled at Larry, running off to her backup vocalists. 

Larry opened the door and ran inside fast, only to find Sal in an open stall, vomiting in the toilet and the disgusting smell of regret being evident in the surrounding atmosphere.   
"Fuck, Sal." He said, hunching forward and taking Sal in his arms, grabbing the toilet paper and moving him into a different stall, only to start cleaning vomit off of his lips -

Oh.   
OH.   
His prosthetic was off and was on the ground. Larry smiled at him, only to for some reason make Sal cry. But only one eye had tears pooling, was the other one fake? He didn't give a shit. Sure, he might be a dick to Sal, but in reality, he wanted to love him to death. He didn't look ugly with all the scars. Hell no, he was amazing. 

"Y-you're not looking away?" Sal asked, tears falling down from one eye right onto his ripped and scarred cheeks. "A-am I not u-ugly? With t-the scars, the v-vomit and the g-glass eye a-and missing nose?" He stuttered out through sobs and whimpers and looked Larry with the most pain he could muster.   
"Yes. You're not ugly. Hell, you're beautiful! I know I'm a douche around you, but I love you. You're fucking amazing." Larry confessed, wiping off the last bit of vomit from Sal's scarred lips and he launched himself forward, kissing him on the lips. Sal loved that kiss. 

They broke away for air and Sal grabbed his prosthetic off the floor, hugging Larry for support.   
"I-I don't think I can walk-" He was cut off by Larry putting his hands around him and walking away.   
"We can leave. I asked miss Blake. Ash will continue for a bit more, cause she likes this, believe it or not. I'll take you to my place, you're with me for the rest of the next day."

Sal smiled and put his prosthetic on, stumbling slightly as they started to walk out of the back entrance and into Larry's car. When Sal sat in the front seat, Larry sat in the driver's seat and gave the bluenette a kiss on the lips, since Sal threw the prosthetic onto the back seat, and pulled away, smiling faintly as he started to drive to his apartment.


	4. Operose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> too much effort into doing something for someone you love makes trust issues worse sometimes 
> 
> operose  
> (adj.) involving or displaying a lot of effort.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is trash. I'm sorry for this being so short. I have no time and the next chapter might be in a week.

"Oh, shit. Ash is calling me." Larry said, eyeing Sal as they sat on the taller male's couch.  
"Oh! Pick up, it might be serious." Sal responded, seeing the slight worry in Larry's eyes, quickly standing up and walking to the bathroom, which he didn't know the location of.

"Hello, Ash? Yeah, it's me, Lar-" His voice was cut off by a not-so loud yell from Sal, who was questioning where the restroom was.  
"LARRY! WHERE IS YOUR DAMN BATHROOM?! Damn, why is your apartment so large!"  
"Walk forward, then right!" Larry responded, having turned off his microphone when he heard Sal yelling.  
"Larrryyyyyyyyyyy? Don't tell me you and Sal just did it and he wants to clean himself up or some stuff?! Oh my god, no way." Ash breathed quietly into the phone, a crackled laugh erupting from the taller man's mouth at the sentences.  
"No, I would have loved to do that to him, though. Thanks for the idea." He smirked, but was thankful enough that Sal was in the bathroom and probably didn't hear him.  
"So, what happened to ya?" They continued to speak for quite the time of 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, Sal was sitting on the seat of the toilet, thinking about why on Earth his little friend down there needed to get hard while Larry was carrying him into the apartment. He was very thankful the metal-head didn't see it from Sal's dark jeans that contrasted with the night outside.  
"Damn, why now..?" Sal whispered, tears pooling in his eyes. He really did fucking fall in love. At that, at a bar. To a guy he met a few days ago. Being fairly glad that most boners he got during his puberty went away after a minute or two, this one did too. He was about to have a severe panic attack.  
Sal's anxiety and panic attacks felt like pure despair. Most that happened while he was younger were because of the accident he and his mother had faced, resulting in her death three days after being in a coma in a hospital. The ones that happened in public, though. They made him feel like pure shit, ruining people's day by stumbling around, trying to find a safe place to break down, most of the time running back to his apartment. 

What did they feel like in general?  
Chest pain, first off. His heart felt like it would have a failure every millisecond that passed. The feeling of being choked was purely and entirely disgusting and it made the next feeling even worse - the nausea. His world would be spinning, and damn did it made him puke some times, but it happened way less than anything else. The dizziness, the shortness of breath. Damn, even the trembling made it all worse.  
Sal could remember once, Ashley was over at his apartment, and he had one of his worst attacks. He almost fainted because of the whole thing his body and mind were trying to process. Ash had called his father, who thankfully told her what to do, and she helped him get back on his feet in no time.

He had no clue what he would do if Larry decided to open the door to the bathroom and find him, hair messy, tears glossy and his breathing elaborated. It would be such a shame for Larry to see him being as miserable as he already was. But damn, Larry already saw him vomiting in a strip club bathroom, without his prosthetic on at that. How much worse could it get? It couldn't was the answer that Sal very much knew.  
And then started the hyperventilation. 

Meanwhile, once again, the phone call continued, but shortly coming to it's end.  
"Yeah, wow, a lot happened! Now, I'll go, I'm near my apartment. Talk to you and Sal later!" Ash responded to Larry, pressing the 'end call' option and setting the phone down next to herself, Larry doing the same thing.  
He realized Sal hadn't gone out of the bathroom for 15 or even more minutes at this point and his instinct told him to go, open that door, and do what he needed to do.

Larry started walking quickly, concern flooding his mind and mixing with the building up pressure he was feeling the whole time in the car. His thoughts were racing and many scenarios got created in between each one - Was Sal having a mental breakdown? A panic attack? Was he cutting? Was he going to off himself? He wanted to believe that none of those were true, and that Sal just either had to jack off or to stop having a constipation. Okay, yeah, the last one was a no-no once again.  
When he reached the bathroom's door, Larry heard loud whimpers coming out, along with sharp breaths every few seconds. His mind was going to make him insane.

So he kicked that door, Chuck Norris style, well, not-so much, but sort of.

And the sight that awaited him made him feel bad. Really bad. Made him feel like a shameless shithead for leaving Sal alone, just because of a stupid phone call.  
Sal had his back on the wall, his face disheveled with tears running down, the scars making a painfully burning sensation on his skin, his arm revealed by the pulled up black sleeve that exposed fresh new cuts.  
Larry gasped, looking down at the shorter male, who was also looking up at the taller man.  
"D-Don't look at me..." Sal quietly said, the sobs making his words inaudible to understand, but Larry managed to get past the ugly sounds and got the meaning of what had come out of Sal's throat.

The brunette kneeled down in front of Sal and scooped him up in his arms, picking him up bridal style seconds later.  
Sal stayed quiet during the whole thing, until Larry broke the silence with a few sentences that would have broken somebody's heart.  
"I-I don't want to be shallow towards you. I want us to be friends or even more. Please. I want to know what you're going through. I had no idea you would be doing this if I left you alone for a bit. Please, please, Sal. Tell me everything that happened when you were in the bathroom once I carry you into my room. Please. I want to help you."

Sal smiled, for once. A real smile that was quickly ruined by more incoming tears, this time, happy ones. Ones that made him realize he might have a help for once that wasn't Ash or his father.

𝘐'𝘮 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘦𝘯𝘥, 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯  
𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥  
𝘊𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵 𝘶𝘴  
𝘞𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘯𝘰𝘸


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